Never Train Tom Harris in the SAS
by Fearlee
Summary: Blunt wants Tom to become a spy, so he sends him and Alex to Brecon Beacons to train. The only fact that he overlooked was that Tom doesn't want to be a spy. Mayhem is about to commence...
1. Chapter 1

***leaps onto scene dramatically* I have returned with a new story!...obviously. Like I mentioned at the end of my last story, Sarruby gave me a few ideas. You suggested 'never volunteer to train new recruits'...but then I thought, _"Hey! What if K-unit has to train Tom Harris?"_** **So yeah, many thanks to Sarruby and your...err, 'plot bunnies'... ^.^**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider.**

* * *

"You can't be serious." Alex asked incredulously.

Blunt straightened the papers on his desk, "I am serious about everything I say, Alex."

Said spy ran a hand through his blonde hair. How was he going to convince Blunt that he was wrong? And that such a plan should never have been conceived in the first place?

"Tom Harris will not make a good spy," Alex said slowly, "At. All. And I'm talking not good as in 'the whole world blows up' not good."

"Your exaggeration does not sway my plan." Blunt said firmly, "One of our vehicles will come to pick up you and Mr. Harris and drive to Brecon Beacons. The both of you will stay there for a duration of two weeks and train with the SAS, and then at the end of that time, I will decide if you friend has the skills to accompany you on a mission."

Alex heaved out a sigh. He would've loved nothing better than to take the grey man by his shoulders and shake him while shouting in his face, "_Just leave me and the people in my life alone!_" But Alex had the sneaking suspicion that just giving the head of Special Operations a pinch would result in a one way ticket to a miserable life caused by none other than MI6.

"I don't know what goes on in your mind," He finally said, "And I don't know what your thought process is. But I can tell you right now: you're wrong. I doubt the SAS will be able to handle Tom for three days, never mind two weeks."

"I'm afraid your opinion doesn't exactly weigh in on this matter." Blunt replied.

Alex raised an eyebrow, "When does my opinion ever matter to you?"

* * *

"Do you think K-unit will be there?" Tom questioned eagerly, "Is the food really bad? Is it true we have to wake up and go on like fifty mile hikes? Because I think it's physically impossible for me to get up before eight o'clock." Alex groaned before answering, "Tom, why are you so excited about training with the SAS? Hell, why are you so excited about training to be a spy?"

"Hey, I'm going to be a great spy!" Tom exclaimed, "I remember in Venice how you came up with the awesome plan to sneak into that one place! Then how you BASE jumped off a cliff without any training whatsoever!"

Alex looked his friend straight in the eye, "Do you remember how I came back from the 'awesome place' soaking wet and limping? And do you remember what I told you who I got involved with after I BASE jumped off the cliff?"

"Yeah…"

"And do you remember how I told you about the killer jellyfish, the maniac who wanted to vivisect me, how I got hit by a train, how I nearly died in a sugar grind machine, how I was almost strangled, how I watched a man kill himself, how I fought in a bull ring?"

"Maybe…"

"Oh yeah, and then there was the time when I was nearly killed in a video game brought to life. And don't forget about how I nearly died of an assassination attempt. I think that's the pinnacle of all the bad things that has happened while I've been a spy, but I've also nearly died in space and almost been eaten alive by effing CROCODILES!"

A full minute of silence went by.

There was a pane of glass separating the back seats from the driver, so the two teens could talk without being overheard. This was probably a good thing due to the fact that Alex was ready to describe every grisly detail of his missions at a shout to convince his friend spying wasn't a picnic in the park.

"Maybe I shouldn't do this." Tom finally admitted. Alex gave his friend a hard look, "You think? The only problem is that Blunt won't be talked out of this. I have no idea what goes on in his twisted mind, but for some reason or other, he is dead set on having you be a spy."

"That's it," Tom declared, "I won't do this. I don't care what that Blunt dude says, he can't take away my right to freedom." Alex leaned back in his seat, "Unless you totally fail everything during training and manage to piss off the sergeant and every soldier in Brecon Beacons, you're going to be a spy."

When Alex said that, he was simply telling his friend there was no way he could get out of becoming a spy. But Tom latched onto the idea. He certainly had a knack for pissing people off, and he could easily pretend to fail everything.

Operation _Get The Hell Out Of This Mess_ was about to commence.

* * *

"Bloody MI6 sending me teenagers!" The sergeant roared, "What's next, toddlers? This isn't a daycare!"

"What, you think I really want to be here?" Tom asked sarcastically.

The sergeant turned his full fury on the teen, "YOU'LL ADDRESS ME AS **_SIR _**AND NOTHING ELSE! IS THAT CLEAR?"

Tom nodded and acted subdued and scared, but really he was planning evil revenge; starting with the screaming man in front of him. Alex, however, stood at attention with a blank face; patiently waiting for the sergeant to finish his tirade.

Five minutes later, the man straightened his uniform top and growled, "The both of you will be training with K-unit. Cub, you can give you friend here a tour of the grounds and explain the rules and what is expected of him."

Now the sergeant glared at Tom for a few seconds before gritting out, "You are not to tell anyone why you are here. If anyone asks, tell them that it's classified. If they give you a rough time, I couldn't care less. And lastly, we don't have names. You may know Cub by a different name outside of this place, but inside, he is simply Cub. The same goes for every other soldier you'll be training with."

The sergeant folded his arms across his chest and thought for a minute before deciding, "Your name will be Panda, and that's the name you'll give to anybody who asks. Dismissed."

Tom opened his mouth to argue that he deserved a better code name than Panda, but Alex quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him out before he could say a word.

"You had better start praying that Wolf is in a good mood today." Alex stated. Tom frowned in thought, "Wolf is the jerky Hispanic dude, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then Snake is the Scottish guy, Fox is the one you went on a mission with, and Eagle is the generally happy one?"

"Don't always count on the last one, but yes."

Tom smiled at his friend, "We're going to have some fun, Al—I mean, Cub." Alex cast him a wary look, "Please don't tell me you have some crazy plan up your sleeve."

"Hey, you suggested it in the first place."

"What do you…" Alex's eyes widened when he realized that Tom was about to commit suicide, "Tom…sorry, _Panda_," He smiled slightly at the name before turning serious again, "Don't do anything to piss these people off. They will rip your guts out, cook them, and eat it as breakfast."

Tom shrugged, "If it means getting out of here, I'm going for it."

Alex ran a hand through his hair, "If you die, can I have your X-box games?"

* * *

Wolf was pissed.

He and K-unit had passed the exercise, but to avoid being seen by the enemy (aka L-unit) the leader had done a full face plant into the cold and slimy mud of Brecon Beacons. In this process, Wolf landed awkwardly and now his wrist was hurting. Snake had examined it and said the pain would go away in a few days, but it was still irritating. Then Eagle couldn't stop laughing at him for being covered from head to toe in mud. Oh yeah, and on top of all that, it was starting to rain.

But it wasn't any typical rainfall.

It was the kind of rain that came down so hard it felt like you were standing in a shower with the water on full power. It was the kind of rain that stuck to you like a slushy. It was the kind of rain that soaked into your clothes within seconds and worked its way into your boots so every step made a _squish_ sound.

Yes, Wolf was pretty pissed off.

Most of the mud had washed off from the torrent of rain, so Wolf and the rest of K-unit simply headed towards their hut to get a change of clothes and head over to the mess hall to grab a bite to eat.

Just as the leader had his hand on the door knob, he heard someone shout, "Why do you get the bed closest to the wall?"

"Because I'm a senior soldier and you're a lowly noob!"

"But I saw it first!"

"I got my bag on it first! Finders keepers, losers weep~"

The sound of something whistling through the air and hitting something muffled the last word. Wolf shoved the door open to see Cub with a pillow in his hand and another teen with another pillow. Both looked ready to launch into a full blown pillow fight.

"What the hell is going on?" Wolf yelled at them.

The teens froze and lowered their arms from throwing positions, "It's nice to see you too, Wolf." Cub said sarcastically. The leader ignored the young spy and glared at the unfamiliar boy a few feet away.

A tiny feeling of sadistic pleasure sparked in Wolf's mind when he saw the kid flinch slightly from his legendary glaring skills.

"Who are you?" He growled.

"I'm Panda," The teen responded, "And it's nice to finally meet you, Wolf." Then he turned his attention to the MI6 operative, "You're Fox, right? Al—Cub said you two were on a mission together a few months ago…"

Panda looked thoughtfully at the last two members, "You're Eagle, and then you're Snake. Cub told me all about the crazy things you guys have done, and I gotta admit, looking at you four now, I never would've guessed that such serious soldiers were capable of pulling off the stunts you guys have."

K-unit was stunned into silence.

How did this kid know so much about them? He and Cub were most likely friends…but didn't Cub have to sign the Official Secrets Act? He shouldn't have been able to tell anyone, yet it appeared that he had.

"How do you know all that?" Fox finally asked just to confirm his thoughts. Panda seemed to think for a moment before answering with a grin, "Classified." Then the teen promptly turned to the spy and said, "Do you always feel this cool when you say that?"

Fox let out a sigh; Cub had taught him well. Snake felt a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Eagle let out one of his mega watt grins; this kid was going to be fun. And last but definitely not least, Wolf released a glare that could strip paint.

This time, Panda didn't flinch from the look, but instead he stated with a completely straight face, "You know if you keep that glare going, your face is going to get stuck like that, and it's already ugly enough."

* * *

**So there, the first chapter is done. The next chapter(s) just _might _contain a _tiny _incident in the mess hall and _possibly_ a few sleeping pills slipped into a certain man's evening coffee. Thanks for reading, and if you like it, press the button below. If you don't, i still want you to press the button below. I'm glad that i get e-mails saying that people are adding my stories to their favorites list, but i also like reading what you guys think i need to work on. Feel free to tell me with the warm glow of a candle or the roaring flames of a bonfire.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you so much for all the reviews! But i must especially thank Talionyzero for the long and honest review that was given. Did you use up all 1000 characters? Anyway, thanks again for telling me the good, bad, and ugly in the story.**

**Also, some people say that my story's timelines are wrong since Ben is still in K-unit. Maybe it really is an AU thing, but in my stories, i always imagined that Ben is with the SAS when he's not doing a mission for MI6. Perhaps this fantasy is wrong, but you know what? Sue me if you don't like it. The other thing i want to mention is that i don't swear. I can read it, but i hate typing it. Even words like 'hell' and 'damn' i am uncomfortable using, but i realize that it's a military setting and soldiers do swear (since i am an American, i do not regard 'arse' and 'bloody' as swears)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider.**

* * *

"K-UNIT! GET YOUR LAZY ARSES OUT OF BED!" The sergeant bellowed. Wolf, Fox, Eagle, Snake, and Alex all snapped awake; jumping out of their beds hastily and cramming on their combat clothes.

"_I'm gonna have to do something about that man." _Tom thought darkly. _"He shouts much too loud for my liking."_

Tom took a quick glance outside the window and buried his face in his pillow. He would be damned if he was going to get up at this ungodly hour. The teen was actually on the cusp of sleep again before someone was shaking him and saying, "To—Panda, you need to get up. If you don't, you'll miss breakfast and you really don't want to start the day without something to eat first."

"It's too early." He moaned. A snicker was heard from the other end of the hut. Tom cracked open an eye and saw Alex making the universal _shut the hell up_ sign at Eagle.

Letting out a groan, Tom slid out of bed and slowly reached for the clothes he was given the previous night. Just by looking at them he knew they were going to be two sizes too big.

A minute later, that was confirmed. The shirt was much too long in the sleeves, so Tom had to roll the ends a few times. Then the pants were too loose around his waist; causing a frantic search for a belt in his duffel bag. Finally, his feet nearly slipped out of the combat boots because they were too big and heavy.

Tom looked at Alex and was shocked to discover that his clothes fit him perfectly, "Why didn't I get some like those!" He demanded, "We're practically the same size! What gives?"

Alex shrugged, "I've been here before, and the cleaning ladies shrunk all my army clothes when I asked." Tom glared at his friend jealously and began to walk towards the door.

Although walking didn't really fit the way he had to lift his feet up so the boots wouldn't fall off. It was like in a cartoon when the characters were trying to be stealthy and were using exaggerated motions. Tom looked exactly like this, except the boots clomped against the floor with a loud _thud_ for every step.

When the teen finally made it outside, he discovered a new thing to hate at Brecon Beacons: mud. The brown substance seemed to be purposely trying to suck the boots off his feet. After a few steps, Tom swore and finally decided to just walk barefoot to the mess hall.

Alex easily walked next to him in boots that_ fit_ while pointing out different areas of the camp, "That building over there is where we learn languages, that one is the bathroom/showers, the obstacle course is a lot harder than it looks, so don't feel bad if you fall the first few times."

Tom grunted his understanding as Alex opened the door to what he labeled the mess hall. When the two teens walked in, silence descended on the usually loud soldiers. Tom wiped his feet on the mat, slipped his socks and boots back on, and followed Alex to the breakfast line.

When the silence persisted and the looks of shock and anger were still strong, Tom shouted, "Why don't you take a picture? It'll last longer!" Eagle let out a laugh, and that dispelled the silence. Many soldiers chuckled while others began muttering to each other and glancing at the teens.

Tom eventually decided to ignore them and focus on the food. When a scoop of brown slop, a cardboard looking pancake, and a bowl of mush was set on his tray, he simply stared with an open mouth.

"Just keep moving." Alex hissed as he started walking towards K-unit's table. Tom quickly followed his friend and sat next to him.

"So Panda, are ya looking forward to the day?" Eagle asked cheerfully. _"Great,"_ Tom thought darkly, _"We have a morning person."_ He answered with a grunt. "Do you know what your schedule is?" Snake questioned.

"How the hell should I know?" Tom snapped, "Some stupid guy in~" Alex stomped on his foot under the table to cut him off. Oh yeah, he wasn't supposed to talk about who sent him here. Bloody secretive intelligence agencies…

"He's got the same as me, but minus the shooting." Alex answered swiftly to cover up the mistake. Wolf shoveled a piece of food into his mouth and growled, "He's probably here because his rich daddy thinks he needs to be straightened out, but his mum doesn't want him to play with guns."

Tom generally punched anyone who took a jibe at his mom or dad. This was due to the fact that they were still having shouting matches everything other hour of the day. But since Wolf was a SAS soldier built with solid muscle, Tom replied through gritted teeth, "Don't talk about my parents, or you'll be sorry."

Wolf barked out a laugh, "A shrimp like you? Make me sorry? Yeah, right."

"Try me." Tom made a gesture with his fork when he said that, and a bit of food flew off his utensil and hit Eagle.

Eagle (being Eagle) chucked it back at the teen, but missed and instead hit Snake.

"Watch it!" The medic said in irritation. He threw the piece of…something back at Eagle, who ducked and caused it to hit the leader of B-unit.

Well, one thing led to another, and soon the entire mess hall was filled with flying projectiles of food. Tom was in the thick of it; jumping from table to table, throwing the cardboard like pancakes like frisbees, and gleefully scooping up something that resembled oatmeal and shoving it down the nearest soldier's pants.

Alex watched his friend dart around the mess hall and thought to himself, _"He's either completely suicidal…or utterly brilliant."_ What better way to get binned than starting a food fight with supposedly 'mature' soldiers? Then something that might've been applesauce hit him right in the face; wiping all thoughts of his friend off his mind and filling it with revenge on the soldier who was stupid enough to throw something at him.

Tom's grin grew even wider when he saw Alex get hit. Man, this was fun! Glancing quickly around the room, Tom noticed the sergeant had just stepped into the mess hall.

The look on the man's face was absolutely priceless.

His mouth hung open wide enough to catch flies, and his eyes had widened to the size where it was absolutely comical. But Tom could see the anger quickly taking over. Before the sergeant could start screaming, Tom grabbed a handful of mushy oatmeal and lobbed it as hard as he could.

Yep. He was suicidal. Off his rocker. Had a screw loose.

But it was worth it.

* * *

"STOP EVERYTHING RIGHT _NOW_!" The sergeant screeched. All the soldiers froze (most of them with food in their fists) and slowly went to attention.

"THIS IS TRAINING CAMP FOR SOLDIERS WHO ARE THE BEST OF THE BEST," He roared, "NOT SOME GRADE SCHOOL CAFETERIA WITH RUGRATS FLINGING THEIR MEALS AT EACH OTHER!"

The sergeant stormed over to the lunch line to grab a few napkins. He wiped the oatmeal off his face and gave a murderous look at all the soldiers, "Who started this?" Even though he wasn't shouting, he became all the more deadly.

"I believe the first morsels thrown were from the direction of K-unit, sir." Koala said after a few seconds. The sergeant slowly walked into the center of the mess hall.* K-unit, Alex, and Tom met him in the middle.

Tom bit down on the laughter that threatened to be heard when he looked at K-unit.

Wolf was the best looking out of the four since he was only hit with a handful of applesauce on his chest. The rest, however, were in a much worse state. Snake had syrup dripping down from his hair and onto his shoulder, Fox had jelly smeared on half his face and across his torso, and Eagle was by far the messiest with jelly, syrup, butter, and oatmeal stuck all over his hair and shoulders.

"K-unit, you will have two weeks kitchen duty," The sergeant snarled, "And everybody in this room will help clean up this mess. Now for your punishment, we'll have a test today covering languages, physical endurance, shooting, and hand-to-hand combat right after you all clean yourselves up. Anyone who does not attend the tests gets binned. CLEAR?"

"YES, SIR!" The whole room said firmly. The sergeant nodded and walked out of the mess hall. By now, the cooks had brought out the cleaning supplies, and they now handed mops and rags to the nearest soldiers.

Tom let out a sigh and took and bucket and a mop. Maybe if the soldiers saw him helping, then they wouldn't be so hard on him.

Well, that went down the drain as soon as Wolf tripped him with his mop and caused Tom to land in a bucket of dirty soapy water. The soldiers started laughing and pointing at him as Alex helped him to his feet.

Tom felt his blood boiling. Yup, revenge was in order.

* * *

The first test of the day was language.

Tom chose French because he was taking it back at Brookland…but even still, he was failing miserably. He cast a quick glance at Alex's paper and reworded the answer on his. The instructor was blind to this, so maybe Tom would actually pass.

* * *

The next test was endurance.

It was very similar to the fitness tests they had to take at school, only the passing numbers were much higher.

100 push-ups or you failed?

150 sit-ups or you failed?

Running a mile under seven minutes or you failed?

God, now Tom knew why Alex referred to this place as hell.

* * *

Tom sat on the sidelines for the shooting test.

Alex had told him a brief outline of the training he received with Scorpia (something he rarely mentioned unless it was absolutely necessary) but Tom was still amazed at how his friend could outshoot every soldier at Brecon Beacons.

The instructor grudgingly gave his approval, and Alex nodded. When he went to join his friend, Tom grinned, "Do you think the soldiers will lay off me if I say that you're my personal body guard?"

Alex let out a wry smile, "They already know that we're best mates, so they're already laying off you more than you can imagine."

* * *

Hand-to-hand combat was the final test of the day.

By then, Tom's muscles were practically jelly.

He offered little resistance to Alex, Fox, Snake, and Eagle, so they easily hailed him with jabs and kicks until they finally pinned him to the ground.

Tom's last fight was with Wolf.

Great.

Tom wearily approached the soldier. The man rubbed his hands together was grinning at his opponent.

Sadistic jerk.

The instructor blew the whistle; signaling for the fights to start. The other groups leapt into action, but Wolf and Tom slowly circled each other.

"You're going to become extinct, _Panda_." Wolf sneered. With that said, he charged. Roughly a hundred and eighty pounds of muscle was barreling down on Tom.

As little kids, we are taught if a stranger attacks you, you scream as loud as you can. When we are ten years old, we are taught to scream and lash out in any way we can. As teens, some of us take self defense classes. But if we don't, we do the simple thing.

Kick 'em in the balls and run like hell.

That was what rang in Tom's mind as he lashed out with his right foot. It was really the only self defense move that he had made all day.

Wolf's face went pale as he dropped to the ground; swearing like a fiend. Tom felt strength surge into his limbs and leapt at the chance. He quickly grabbed Wolf's wrists, flipped him over, and held his arms tightly behind the soldier's back.

"Now _you're _endangered!" Tom hissed in the leader's ear.

The instructor blew the whistle, so Tom stood up. He actually won a fight! And against Wolf of all people!...ok, so maybe it wasn't a completely fair fight, but even still.

"Soldiers," The instructor called out, "Draw your attention to Wolf and Panda's fight." Every soldier had their eyes glued to Wolf who was struggling to stand.

"While Panda may have won by an underhand blow," The instructor explained, "He has demonstrated what enemies may do in the field. Not many of them will stick to the code of honor that we have here, so you must always be prepared for an opponent to lash out in an unlikely way."

Tom took a little bow in the direction of the watching soldiers. He saw Alex roll his eyes, but Tom was proud with his actions.

_"I've started a food fight,"_ He ticked off in his head, _"Landed an entire unit with kitchen duty, kicked a soldier in the balls…what else should I do…hmmm, maybe the sergeant?"_

* * *

Tom was elbow deep in soapy water while washing a pot when it hit him.

The perfect revenge for the sergeant.

Eagle frowned when he saw the crazy grin on Panda's face, "Why are you smiling?" He asked warily.

Panda's grin slid off his face and was replaced with a look just as wary as his, "Would you rat on me if I told you?"

Hmm, this kid was good. Eagle could always just follow him around and find out later…but Eagle wasn't well known for staving off his curiosity.

"Depends what it is," He said with narrowed eyes, "If it's something big like the food fight this morning, then yes." Panda turned his attention away from him.

After a few minutes of silent scrubbing, Panda asked, "Would you warn the sergeant?"

Eagle pursed his lips in thought, "Like I said: it depends what it is."

"It's nothing harmful if that helps."

The tech man bit his lip with indecision. He loved the idea of a good prank, but only if he could get away with it and as long as it wouldn't backfire. After all, other stunts hadn't ended very well…

"Alright," Eagle relented, "I won't tell."

Panda's grin came back as he leaned closer to him and whispered his plan in the soldier's ear. Eagle's eyes widened and the sheer insanity of the kid. He was asking…no,_ begging_ for a death wish!

"You know that you'll get a whopper of a punishment if you're seen."

"My plan operates on the fact of _not_ being seen, smart one."

Eagle grinned at Panda. He sure was a funny one.

* * *

The next morning found Tom up just after the crack of dawn (he was positive he was setting a record or something for getting up this early).

The teen crept towards the obstacle course. It was really more like a kid's jungle gym from hell, but it was actually going to play into Tom's favor.

When he reached the structure, he took a little tube out of his pocket and grinned evilly. If anyone had seen him, they would've definitely thought him insane. But the only two people who really knew what he was doing were Alex and himself…

* * *

"Panda, you're first. You have a maximum of twenty-five minutes to complete this." The sergeant barked, "A second over that and you'll be running laps." Tom gazed at the obstacle course that he had visited just that morning. That had been part one.

The next part of the plan depended on the sergeant's pride.

"Can you do it?" Tom asked innocently. The sergeant's face grew beet red from anger as he answered, "Panda, I've run this course more times than you can imagine to be where I am today. Now get going."

Tom cocked his head to the side, "If you've done it so many times then you wouldn't mind doing it once more just to prove you can do it."

"I don't need to prove myself to a snot nosed brat." The sergeant snarled.

Tom shrugged, "Okay then. I guess what they say is true: those who can't teach, coach." He inhaled deeply and made a show of getting ready to launch into the obstacle course.

"Alright," The sergeant growled, "When I get through with this, then you owe me 300 sit-ups and 200 push-ups."

"Sure thing," Tom countered, "But if you don't make it through, then you write a note to the people who sent me here saying that I'm not cut out for this."

The sergeant narrowed his eyes before hissing, "Deal."

Tom stepped back and let the sergeant take his place. Wolf took the stop watch, gave the countdown, and shouted, "_GO!_"

For one so large, the sergeant could move _fast_. He weaved around the metal poles with ease, jumped hurdles gracefully, and sped through the tires easily.*

In the middle of the course was a pit filled with a greenish slime. The soldiers would climb up onto a platform, grab the rope that was waiting, swing across to the other platform, and jump down to complete the rest of the course.

The rope was upheld by a structure that was practically a giant chin-up bar suspended twelve feet off the ground.

The sergeant snatched the rope and pushed off with confidence. He had done this so many times before, it was pretty much second nature.

But then the unexpected happened.

The metal structure broke at the corners; making the sergeant plunge into the freezing slimy water. He came up sputtering and swearing. How could this have happened? The course had just been redone, after all.

All the soldiers were visibly fighting smiles, but Tom grinned broadly. He had borrowed Alex's 'zit cream' which melted metal (the spy had gotten a refill the last time he visited Smithers) and applied it to that particular section of the obstacle course.

The sergeant climbed out of the slime and stormed over to Tom, "That doesn't count." He growled.

"I don't think so," Tom said slyly, "You didn't make it through the course, and that's what we agreed on. You had to make it through, or you write a letter. While you're doing that, I'm going to go pack my bags."

With that said, Tom turned and walked away from the course. The soldiers' grins now changed to looks of shock. This kid just outright defied the sergeant, turned his back on him, and was walking away?

The sergeant wanted to explode. He wanted to rant, rave, and strangle that brat until his face turned purple. But…he had made a deal. Even though the course broke, a deal was a deal.

_"I'd better get going on that letter."_ The sergeant thought grudgingly. He attempted to wipe off the slime that stuck to his uniform, _"I don't remember it being this bad in my day."_

* * *

"It seems as though Alex Rider was correct," Mrs. Jones remarked, "Thomas Harris doesn't have the makings of a good spy." Blunt didn't answer. He shuffled through the papers on his desk.

Mrs. Jones pressed on, "Out of curiosity, why did you think Harris would be a spy?"

"Have you looked at his school records?" Blunt answered calmly, "He has gotten away with more things than the teachers care to admit. They can never prove him guilty, but they know that he's done it. If we had two spies that could sneak around like that, we'd be able to gather information from anywhere."

Mrs. Jones popped yet another peppermint in her mouth, "But you realize we already have someone like that?"

Blunt nodded, "True. Alex Rider is truly one of a kind."

* * *

**Ok, i know i said in the AN at the end of last chapter there would be a 'sleeping pills in someone's coffee'. But when i tried to write it, the ending just didn't sound right, and i needed a way for Tom to get out of Brecon Beacons. Now i will be retreating to the homework cave; where i must work on an AP US History assignment (I only found out about it four days ago! I have to read a 250 page book, pick 43 quotes, and say why each quote is historically significant!)**

**Also, if you've read my profile, i mention that i write a lot but not much makes it to FanFiction. Well, i'm in the process of creating something (not 'never...in the sas'). Perhaps i'll post it, perhaps not. It has Eagle raising a teenager (not Alex, but he'll eventually come into the story) and there will be a bunch of funny moments yet many serious, family, and soul-searching moments. So yeah, that's what i'm working on...right after the APUSH assignment...**


End file.
